Image

Educational app for early childhood developmentlower primary schoolteacher professional development

Welcome to Nthanda

Nthanda is a mobile application that seeks to help learners smoothly transition from early childhood development (ECD) to early primary school. It contains learning content for ECD, early primary school, and teacher training resources.

The content in the app is presented using visually rich and interactive media such as videos, audio, animations, images, and texts. This is to make learning fun and help learners understand the concepts much easier. This variety of media also expands the number of ways through which learners and teachers can access the content, depending on the available hardware.

The content that is designed for learners in the app focuses on literacy and numeracy. There are four subjects as follows: Masamu (Mathematics), Chichewa (the primary language in Malawi), English, and Nthano (short stories for kids). All subjects, except English, are presented in Chichewa and designed for the Malawi curriculum context.

Image

What inspired the creation of Nthanda?

The development of the Nthanda app and its content was inspired by the crisis which has hit the education system in Malawi. Almost all levels of the Malawi education system are in deep problems which will certainly spell doom if bold and decisive action is not taken. For example, 90% of ten-year-olds cannot read a simple text or story and understand it; learners travel long distances to access education; and teachers struggle with large classes while having little to no access to teacher professional development (TPD).

Image
ECD enrollment27%
Qualified caregivers at ECD53%
Completion rate (primary)58%
Dropout rate per class (primary)4%
10 year-olds able to read 10%

Pilot project for Nthanda

Through a collaborative effort between Padziwe and Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC), a limited version of the Nthanda app and its content were piloted early in 2022. This pilot project aimed to put the app into the hands of actual learners and teachers for realistic feedback which would then be incorporated into the final version.

During this period, Nthanda and its content reached 1, 743 children at the lower primary school level (standard 1 and 2) and 312 children in ECD centers. This was done through 10 schools, 30 churches, and 5 ECD centers. Other audiences included 30 teachers, 30 school committee members, and 90 village champions who facilitated the ECD lessons via churches.
Image

Pilot findings

The value that both children and teachers intrinsically place on technology proved to be an incentive for increased school attendance and excitement across all the schools and churches. comparatively absenteeism and drop-out rates reduced significantly.

The interactive and visually-rich content accompanied by continuous assessment made it easier for teachers to implement learner-centered and outcome-based pedagogical approaches. It was reported that this helped the children understand what they were learning more effectively and achieve higher marks on the relevant tests.

The hardware used allowed for better class management and small group work, supporting the development of social, leadership, and interaction skills in the learners. Teachers reported that reserved and slower learners were positively affected by the direct interaction with technology and were more willing to engage in learning activities
Image
0
Learners
0
Schools
0
Churches
0
ECD Centers

Sample lessons

Check out some of the lessons extracted from the Nthanda app. Keep in mind that these selected samples are only video lessons. A good portion of the content is interactive and requires the use of computers or tablets/phones. These have been presented for the sake of demostration only and some of them have been shortned.

Chichewa Alphabet

Nyama za Nkhalango - Chichewa child stories

Chichewa Alphabet - Kalembedwe ka Malembo

Principles of Learner-Centered Learning

Publish modules to the "offcanvs" position.